What came next is not. When Sherry Wright attempted to explain her sister’s unique situation, the TSO said he wanted the explanation to come from the holder of the lapsed ID. Wright tried to reason with the man, emphasizing that her sister was mute, but to no avail.

I showed her ID, her (Social Security card) and her DMV papers. He just wanted me to make my sister talk, and I couldn’t believe it.

I was just standing there, tears were coming out and I was like, ‘Are you serious? We can’t get her to talk.’

The women managed to get to Phoenix, their destination. But the trip, by bus, took them eight hours. Sherry Wright has filed a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security.

Nico Melendez, a spokesperson for the TSA, told ABC7 that it regrets the incident:

I think it could have been handled differently by the TSA and it probably could have been handled differently by the family, and hopefully moving forward the family won’t have this problem again, because they know about the programs that we have in place.

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Howard Portnoy has written for New York's "Daily News" and several national magazines. He has one published novel, "Hot Rain," (G. P. Putnam's Sons), and has ghost-written some dozen books on art and literature. He also blogs at Liberty Unyielding and formerly blogged at Hot Air. Click the “Subscribe” link to have his articles sent directly to your e-mail inbox.